Is there a connection between Arctic warming, drought, and fires?

A new report from the National Laboratory “Lawrence Livermore” predicts a link between the Arctic ice melting and the worst weather conditions in California in the coming decades. This discovery is made as fires burn South California.

Scientists say there may be a link between the devastating fires in California and the Arctic.

The ice is disappearing in the Arctic Ocean. It's disappearing from Greenland, changing climate across the planet”, says Josh Willis, of NASA laboratory.

There's massive Arctic warming and continued ice loss. An ice simulation over the next two decades shows how winter air currents will be moved to Alaska and Canada, thus affecting California.

We're creating further California drains just because of ice melting, almost 10-1.5% reduction in rainfall over the next 20 years”, says atmospheric scientist Ivana Cvianovic, of the National Laboratory “Lawrence Liverpool”

Watching ice and glaciers has been the main focus of Josh Willis' work.

During a new mission in Greenland to see how much ice has melted in the ocean, its discovery tells of global effects.

The warm water is all around Greenland and is a major threat to glaciers. What we don't know is how fast Greenland's ice will disappear. Maybe we could adapt to a slow 1000-year merger, but if it melts for several hundred years, then we'll have to evacuate cities around the world”, says Mr. Willis.

Scientists can predict climates in areas like the southwest American.

We'll look at maybe more dry conditions in the second half of the 21st century southwest. That means we're going to face water shortages and problems that cause the” fires, says Mr. Willis.

The growing drought and population growth mean more fires and more destruction.

Many of the fires in southern California occur from the interactions of people with the savage nature”, says Natasa Stavros, of NASA laboratory.

Further climate changes are expected as the weather evolves.

“As we experience climate change with more drought, fire acts as an eraser, allowing the creation of new ecosystems that will not face competition”, says Mrs. Stavros.

Climate change is not expected to occur only in the southwest American.

“As the atmosphere warms, it becomes a better water transferer, shifting it from place to place. Thus, dry places will become more dry, and wet places will have even more moisture. There will also be larger rains”, says Mr. Willis.

Josh Willis predicts that in the future the world will have more floods and droughts, but that it can change their location over time. / VOA/